New Test Promises Quick Anaemia Detection in the Field.

New Test Promises Quick Anaemia Detection in the Field. A new way to detect anaemia by measuring haemoglobin levels using small amounts of whole blood is believed to be a vast improvement over existing tests, which rely on haemolysis (rupturing) of blood samples in lab facilities. "The most exciting aspect to this analyser is that it uses whole blood (blood components intact) and doesn't require additional steps and reagents to prepare a sample," says Nathan Sniadecki, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle, and an author of the report on the novel approach published this month (October) in AIP Advances. Anaemia, a condition caused by low concentration of haemoglobin in red blood cells, results primarily from a lack of iron in the diet but can co-occur with other conditions, such as malaria or genetic disorders. The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers it as a global health problem affecting over a quarter of the global population, a vast number of which are women and children in resource-poor countries.

Measles - Nigeria Has Highest Unvaccinated Children Worldwide - WHO Report.

Measles - Nigeria Has Highest Unvaccinated Children Worldwide - WHO Report.Though there has been a substantial decline in global measles death, Nigeria still tops the chart of number of children not vaccinated against measles. A new report published by the World Health Organisation indicates that 20.8 million children worldwide are still missing their first measles vaccine dose and more than half of these unvaccinated children live in six countries. In a joint press statement sponsored by CDC/GAVI/UNICEF and WHO on the report, they noted that in spite of the substantial decline of global measles death, a lot still needs to be done. Nigeria tops the list of countries with unvaccinated children from measles with 3.3 million children, followed by India - 2.9 million,Pakistan - 2.0 million, Indonesia - 1.2 million, Ethiopia - 0.9 million and Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, with 0.7 million. Since measles is a highly contagious viral disease, large outbreaks continue to occur in these countries including Nigeria resulting in some deaths.

BOA Develops Strategies to Boost Agricultural Sector.

BOA Develops Strategies to Boost Agricultural Sector.As part of measures to boost the nation 's economy, the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) has said that strategies for adequate financing of the Agricultural sector that would generate employment and empower clients in Agri- business. Also, the Bank emphasised that the strategies would reduce poverty and earn foreign exchange for the nation. The Managing Director of the Bank, Alhaji Kabir Adamu, while delivering an address at the opening of financial bid for the selection of consultants for the BoA capacity building and institutional strengthening project of African Development Bank (AfDB), said that the bank would ensure that efforts to grow the country's agriculture sector to meet the standard set by government is not compromised.

Nigeria Reforming Grain Storage Methods.

Nigeria Reforming Grain Storage Methods.Farmers in the country have been introduced to sophisticated non-chemical crop storage bags to preserve grains.The incidence of cases of food poisoning due to chemical storage of grains in Nigeria would now become a thing of the past as farmers in the country have been introduced to sophisticated nonchemical crops storage bags to preserve grains. The technology known as Purdue Improved Crop Storage, PICS, bags has put an end to occurrence of wrong application of chemicals in storage of grains, resulting in food poising like "killer beans" and other chemical related preserving method, which have caused a lot of death and harms to many people in the country

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The success story of papaya farming.

The success story of papaya farming.

Farm security: crucial tips to improve safety.

Farm security: crucial tips to improve safety.In South Africa, being a farmer is more than twice as dangerous as being a police officer, and a farmer or farmworker is almost four times more likely to be murdered than the average South African. Henk Boshoff, who lives on a farm near Standerton, Mpumalanga, and his partner Mark Wilson, who works from the Strand in the Western Cape, are partners in a security company, Community Assets Tactical Security (CATS). They advise farmers on how to approach farm and community security, and put them in contact with those who can implement security infrastructure at the best prices.The area in which Henk lives was known for high crime rates, but after the community organised itself, this rate dropped drastically. “Farmers and farming communities are soft targets. They must become hard targets. To achieve this, the entire community must be involved,” he stresses.